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YOUR WASHINGTON AND YOU For release - December 30 or after
Weekly News Letter
from Office of Karl Mundt VOLUME 5 - NUMBER 43.
INTERESTING PRESIDENTIAL PROPOSAL. Congressman John C. Kunkel (R. Penna.) is the
author of a Resolution now before a Congressional Committee which may have sufficient
merit to warrant ultimate passage. It deals with the status of a new President-elect
between the date of his election and the date of his inauguration.
The period between Election Day and the time when the newly elected officials take
office always presents a problem. This is particularly true of the Presidency of the
United States. This fact has already been recognized by the American people through
the passage of the so-called "Lame Duck" amendment to the constitution, which eliminated
the short session of Congress when many Members who had been defeated at the polls the
preceding November would continue to hold office and legislate until March 4th of the
following year. It also changed the date on which the President-elect took office from
March 4th to January 20th. There are considerable difficulties about making this period
any shorter because the votes have to be counted and re-checked and it is always possible
that election contests may develop in certain States.
Kunkel's resolution would deal with this problem which in war time is perhaps even
more significant than during peace, by having Congress pass an advisory resolution which
it is felt would serve to guide the activities of the President and the President-elect
if it is enacted. The Resolution is brief. Here it is:
TO express the sense of Congress with respect
to the role of a President-elect during the
interim between his election and inauguration
in the present emergency.
RESOLVED by the House of Representatives ( the Senate concurring) that it is the sense
of the Congress that, in the event any person is elected in 1944 to the office of President to succeed the incumbent President, such President-elect shall be associated with
the Government at the earliest possible date after such election in a capacity that will
best insure continuity of action in the war effort, a consistent policy in our foreign
affairs, and the establishment of a just and enduring peace.
It is worth noting that if President Roosevelt decides not to run for a fourth term
(which seems increasingly probable) the intent of such a Resolution becomes additionally
important since it would then be absolutely certain, instead of merely possible or probable, that a new President would assume office in 1945.
A LESSON OUT OF THE PAST
Looking backward to 1932, it has always seemed to me that if Mr. Roosevelt had accepted President Hoover's invitation to join with him in formulating plans for combating
the depression of that era, after Mr. Roosevelt's election, that at least part of the
shock of that dark period might have been avoided. If the Congress at that time had
expressed itself along the lines now suggested by the Kunkel proposal, perhaps there
would have been such an association in 1932. Had such an arrangement been effected in
1932, perhaps the London Economic Conference would never have been scrapped and since
many historians feel that had that Conference been held with satisfactory results the
second World War might have been averted it is almost impossible to over-estimate the
possible dividends which might accrue from a provision arranging for a cooperative period
of close association between a President-elect and his predecessor.
-o-
ROBERT SHERROD, correspondent for Time magazine,
recently made an off-the-record report of his
experiences at Tarawa which it was the good
fortune of your Congressman to hear. Sherrod
says that the BIGGEST GRIPE of men in service
is against strikes and war profiteering. 60%
of the Marines landing with Sherrod were
battle casualties.
-o-
RIVER MEETING JANUARY 11th: Col. Delbert B. Freeman of the Omaha Office on the U. S.
Army Engineers has notified Congressman Mundt that the first public hearing of the James
River Flood Control Resolution which Mr. Mundt had adopted by the Flood Control Committee
of the House will be held in Aberdeen on January 11th. Mundt suggested that other meetings be held in Huron, Mitchell, and Yankton, and that complete attention be given to
the possibility of combining irrigation developments with Flood Control works as a means
of fully utilizing the potentialities of the James River.
-o-
HANSARD is the name of the official counter-part
of the Congressional Record published to report
proceedings of the British Parliament. A British
M. P. has recently given Mr. Mundt a 6 months
complimentary subscription to HANSARD and we are
in turn making copies of the Congressional Record
available to this English colleague, Commander
Stephen King-Hall. It is well that the two greatest
legislative bodies in the World come to know and
understand each other better.

The work from which this copy was made did not include a formal copyright notice. This work may be protected by U.S. copyright law (Title 17, United States Code), which governs reproduction, distribution, public display, and other uses of protected works. Some uses may be legal with permission from the copyright holder, if the copyright on the work has expired, or if the use is fair use or compliance with the law. All use of DLSD material and content, whether utilized under fair use or used with written permission to publish, must name the Karl E. Mundt Historical & Educational Foundation, Karl E. Mundt Library, Dakota State University, as the original source for the material.

The work from which this copy was made did not include a formal copyright notice. This work may be protected by U.S. copyright law (Title 17, United States Code), which governs reproduction, distribution, public display, and other uses of protected works. Some uses may be legal with permission from the copyright holder, if the copyright on the work has expired, or if the use is fair use or compliance with the law. All use of DLSD material and content, whether utilized under fair use or used with written permission to publish, must name the Karl E. Mundt Historical & Educational Foundation, Karl E. Mundt Library, Dakota State University, as the original source for the material.

Date Digitized

2012-10-02

Transcript

YOUR WASHINGTON AND YOU For release - December 30 or after
Weekly News Letter
from Office of Karl Mundt VOLUME 5 - NUMBER 43.
INTERESTING PRESIDENTIAL PROPOSAL. Congressman John C. Kunkel (R. Penna.) is the
author of a Resolution now before a Congressional Committee which may have sufficient
merit to warrant ultimate passage. It deals with the status of a new President-elect
between the date of his election and the date of his inauguration.
The period between Election Day and the time when the newly elected officials take
office always presents a problem. This is particularly true of the Presidency of the
United States. This fact has already been recognized by the American people through
the passage of the so-called "Lame Duck" amendment to the constitution, which eliminated
the short session of Congress when many Members who had been defeated at the polls the
preceding November would continue to hold office and legislate until March 4th of the
following year. It also changed the date on which the President-elect took office from
March 4th to January 20th. There are considerable difficulties about making this period
any shorter because the votes have to be counted and re-checked and it is always possible
that election contests may develop in certain States.
Kunkel's resolution would deal with this problem which in war time is perhaps even
more significant than during peace, by having Congress pass an advisory resolution which
it is felt would serve to guide the activities of the President and the President-elect
if it is enacted. The Resolution is brief. Here it is:
TO express the sense of Congress with respect
to the role of a President-elect during the
interim between his election and inauguration
in the present emergency.
RESOLVED by the House of Representatives ( the Senate concurring) that it is the sense
of the Congress that, in the event any person is elected in 1944 to the office of President to succeed the incumbent President, such President-elect shall be associated with
the Government at the earliest possible date after such election in a capacity that will
best insure continuity of action in the war effort, a consistent policy in our foreign
affairs, and the establishment of a just and enduring peace.
It is worth noting that if President Roosevelt decides not to run for a fourth term
(which seems increasingly probable) the intent of such a Resolution becomes additionally
important since it would then be absolutely certain, instead of merely possible or probable, that a new President would assume office in 1945.
A LESSON OUT OF THE PAST
Looking backward to 1932, it has always seemed to me that if Mr. Roosevelt had accepted President Hoover's invitation to join with him in formulating plans for combating
the depression of that era, after Mr. Roosevelt's election, that at least part of the
shock of that dark period might have been avoided. If the Congress at that time had
expressed itself along the lines now suggested by the Kunkel proposal, perhaps there
would have been such an association in 1932. Had such an arrangement been effected in
1932, perhaps the London Economic Conference would never have been scrapped and since
many historians feel that had that Conference been held with satisfactory results the
second World War might have been averted it is almost impossible to over-estimate the
possible dividends which might accrue from a provision arranging for a cooperative period
of close association between a President-elect and his predecessor.
-o-
ROBERT SHERROD, correspondent for Time magazine,
recently made an off-the-record report of his
experiences at Tarawa which it was the good
fortune of your Congressman to hear. Sherrod
says that the BIGGEST GRIPE of men in service
is against strikes and war profiteering. 60%
of the Marines landing with Sherrod were
battle casualties.
-o-
RIVER MEETING JANUARY 11th: Col. Delbert B. Freeman of the Omaha Office on the U. S.
Army Engineers has notified Congressman Mundt that the first public hearing of the James
River Flood Control Resolution which Mr. Mundt had adopted by the Flood Control Committee
of the House will be held in Aberdeen on January 11th. Mundt suggested that other meetings be held in Huron, Mitchell, and Yankton, and that complete attention be given to
the possibility of combining irrigation developments with Flood Control works as a means
of fully utilizing the potentialities of the James River.
-o-
HANSARD is the name of the official counter-part
of the Congressional Record published to report
proceedings of the British Parliament. A British
M. P. has recently given Mr. Mundt a 6 months
complimentary subscription to HANSARD and we are
in turn making copies of the Congressional Record
available to this English colleague, Commander
Stephen King-Hall. It is well that the two greatest
legislative bodies in the World come to know and
understand each other better.